


Seeking Improvement

by chemically_yours



Series: Seeking Universe [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, it can be interpreted as platonic though, mentioned ichigo/rukia, renji tries his best, renji/byakuya preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7698697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chemically_yours/pseuds/chemically_yours
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji attempts to follow orders and help Ichigo become a more skilled fighter. Kenpachi has other plans. Byakuya really should have expected this. Sequel to Seeking Permission</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeking Improvement

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this like a year ago, but I've decided the time has finally come to post it.

Seeking Improvement

Zabimaru howled in frustration in the back of Renji’s mind, furious to be replaced by a wooden practice sword for such an important sparring match. Privately, Renji sympathized with his zanpakuto. A chance to spar with Ichigo was rare, and he’d much rather use the opportunity to go all out and see how far he’d come since their last fight. But this sparring match wasn’t about Renji and what he wanted. It was about Kuchiki-taicho’s orders to improve Ichigo’s fighting style. So Renji stowed his complaints and tightened his grip on the handle in his hands.

Ichigo was not as quiet with his disappointment.

“Why are we doing this again? I thought I was gonna get to fight you and Zabimaru today.”

Renji fought back a wave of impatience. It wouldn’t due to lose his temper. All he needed was for Kuchiki-taicho to show up and find him holding Ichigo in a headlock instead of practicing sword work. He’d been trusted with this very important task and it was a chance to prove himself. 

“Shut the hell up and take your stance. We’re doing this so Rukia can be with you in public without hiding her face in shame. We can spar with zanpakuto later.”

Ichigo seemed to accept that there would be no arguing and complied by moving to copy the way Renji was standing, sword lifted out in front of him. He still didn’t know what was wrong with the way he normally fought. It got the job done after all. But if these were the steps Byakuya had deemed necessary for him to date Rukia, then he would spar with wooden swords every single day for the rest of his life if he had to. 

Renji decided it was time to get started and launched into his first attack. Ichigo dodged easily and prepared to block the second blow that Renji sent his way. They went on back and forth for a while and Ichigo was just starting to get warmed up now. He moved to block a combo attack that Renji would surely…not be following through with. Ichigo stopped his movements and waited for Renji to explain why he was suddenly just standing there.

Renji stood in baffled silence for a moment trying to compose himself. He hadn’t really believed Kuchiki Taicho when he’d said that Ichigo’s swordmanship was, what word had he used? “Abysmal.” Sure, Ichigo had a reckless style about him, but the guy had to know what he was doing, right? Maybe he was just a little rusty. Still…

“Hey, Ichigo, how much instruction have you actually had in swordmanship?”

Ichigo relaxed and scratched his head. He thought back and tried to figure out if battles would count. Probably not since the guys he was fighting were enemies and weren’t really interested in instructing him at the time.

“Let’s see. I’ve done a bit of Kendo and such in school. Uh… Rukia yelled at me a bunch in the beginning about what I should do. And Urahara-san trained me for about 2 weeks, I guess. Old Man Zangetsu taught me most of what I know in my inner world and doing Bankai training. The rest is just instinct or stuff I picked up from fights along the way. Why?”

Renji gaped, trying to process this new information. It certainly explained quite a bit. It wasn’t obvious at first, especially with Ichigo’s overwhelming personality taking up so much of his concentration. But when you looked, it was there. A faulty grip following a parry, incorrect positioning of his feet for a thrust, an opening following his backswing; all little things you’d only expect to see from someone straight out of the academy. Kuchiki-taicho had been right. Ichigo’s skills were raw and unpolished, and completely unfitting for someone who wished to court nobility.

Renji felt his anger flare. How long had he spent out on the training grounds to perfect his own swordmanship? He remembered nights spent sleeping on the ground after passing out, fingers toughened by calluses, blood and sweat mingling in the dirt at his feet. Over and over again until he was good enough to make lieutenant. Over and over again until he was worthy enough to face Rukia. Over and over until he was skilled enough to catch Kuchiki Taicho’s eye. And here Ichigo had already done these things without any of the work. 

Renji took a deep breath and bit back a snide remark. He shouldn’t be getting mad at Ichigo. It wasn’t his fault. He’d simply never had the opportunity to learn before now. And it was Renji’s duty as Ichigo’s friend and as Kuchiki-taicho’s second-in-command to be his teacher. This was his chance to prove to Kuchiki-taicho that he was worthy of his trust and recognition.

“Alright. Listen up, Ichigo. We’ve got a lot of work ta do if we’re gonna get you all caught up to where you should be. This isn’t about raw fightin skills, cause you’ve got plenty of those. This is all about…finesse. Let’s start again, and this time we’re gonna stop if I notice something wrong so I can show you the proper technique, got it? Here we go.”

They leapt back into action, this time stopping frequently. Renji would demonstrate to proper movements Ichigo messed up and then have him repeat the technique until he could get the proper feel for it. They were getting on fairly well and Renji was feeling rather optimistic about the progress they were making. Ichigo had always been a quick learner and he was clearly dedicated to meeting Kuchiki-taicho’s insanely high standards. 

They took a short break and had only just resumed training when an ominous presence caught Renji’s attention. He stared in horror at the figure looming in the doorway. Ichigo, poor, oblivious Ichigo, had yet to notice the grave danger he was now in. He made a smart-ass comment about Renji’s sudden skilled impersonation of a statue.

“Yo, Ichigo! Finally! I’ve been looking for you all day.”

Zaraki Kenpachi moved into the 6th division training barracks as Yachiru waved merrily from her perch on his shoulders. Ichigo turned slowly to face this new arrival, dread churning in his stomach even as optimism forced a cheerful greeting from his lips. Maybe all Kenpachi wanted was to say hello.

Kenpachi’s response was to slash out quickly with his zanpakuto. Ichigo stared down sadly at the broken pieces of the wooden practice sword. Shit.

“I heard that you were here training. Abarai’s good, sure. But if you wanted a real match you should have come to me. Now then, give me a good fight Ichigo!”

Renji hurriedly backed out of the way as Zaraki-taicho charged and nonchalantly forced Ichigo back through the south wall. Renji thought that perhaps he should try to intervene on Ichigo’s behalf. Zaraki-taicho’s manical laughter suddenly accompanied his immense spiritual pressure filling the air. On second thought, Ichigo was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, improper form and all. He’d even managed to grab hold of Zangetsu before Zaraki-taicho had a chance to maim him. Renji watched him unleash a getsuga tenchou that Zaraki-taicho deflected into the nearest building. They’d be lucky if there was any of the 6th division barracks left standing by the end of the day. 

Renji retrieved Zabimaru and tried to figure out if he should warn the 6th division to evacuate. Most of the unseated recruits would have probably already passed out in the face of Zaraki-taicho’s spiritual pressure, making that option less than ideal. Maybe he could suggest that they take the fight elsewhere? An unfortunately placed row of plum trees fell to Zaraki’s wrath. Scratch that. Orders or not, there was no way in hell Renji was getting in the middle of this.

It was right as Renji was planning to cut his losses and head to the bar early that Kuchiki-taicho decided to show up. 

There was an uncomfortable silence as Byakuya surveyed the scene. His icy glance shifted over to Renji, who in turn held his breath and waited to be verbally eviscerated before potentially being physically eviscerated as well.

“Tell me, Abarai-Fukutaicho, what exactly is happening here?”

“Well, Sir, as you can see, Zaraki-taicho has decided to stand in as Ichigo’s sparring partner.”

Renji cursed himself even as the remark left his mouth. Being a smartass wasn’t going to gain him back any of the respect from Byakuya that he had surely lost due to this fiasco. And just when things were starting to look up for their relationship too. 

“How long did you have to work with him before that barbarian lumbered in?”

“Uh…not too long. 3-4 hours maybe. I’m afraid we didn’t get much done. You were right Sir, as strong as Ichigo is, his movements still need a ton of work.”

Byakuya stood observing the destruction of his Division grounds a second more. His brow was furrowed with thought and Renji wished he could smooth it out. Byakuya sighed heavily and turned back to Renji.

“Very well. You’ll simply have to continue his instruction another time. Perhaps in a more discrete location. There’s no obvious improvement, but it’s clear that the boy is more conscious of what he is doing. You’ve made a good start lieutenant.”

Renji felt his cheeks heat at the unexpected praise. He hardly felt deserving of his Captain’s recognition after the sour turn today’s events had taken. He tried to sputter out a response which took on a panicked note when he realized Byakuya was moving towards the fight.

“At ease Lieutenant. I will only be a minute taking care of these buffoons. When I am finished, you will join me for dinner and we will discuss strategies for Kenpachi-proofing future sparring sessions.”

Renji shouted out a quick affirmative and smiled as Byakuya stepped brazenly between the two idiots destroying the 6th and unleashed an impressive blast of kido. Dinner at the Kuchiki manor was a rare treat and the invitation made it clear that Byakuya didn’t blame Renji for the current mess. In fact, Byakuya still thought Renji good enough to continue Ichigo’s training.

As Zaraki laughed and Ichigo shouted in surprise at Byakuya’s sudden appearance, Renji couldn’t help but feel he’d somehow passed a test.


End file.
